Title

Light color temperature

Problem Scenario

Usually I wear my black sweatshirt and since I know that darker colors absorb more heat, I know that I would feel warmer. But sometimes when I go around in different different lighted places, I feel warmer than usual or not as warm. This makes me wonder if perhaps maybe not the color of an object affects the temperature, but maybe the color of the heat source.

Broad Question

How does the color of the light and object affect the temperature of the object?

Specific Question

How does the color of light affect the temperature?

Hypothesis

If the color of light is a light color and the object is a dark color then the object will absorb more heat.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

Color

Dependent Variable:

Temperature

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Amount and distance of light

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Heat: Warm temperature
Absorb: To take up or gain

General Plan

I would get some different colored lights and use different colored paper as the surface I need to color. Then, after about ten minutes, I would measure the temperature of the surface and write it down, also marking how dark or light the color of the light and the surface is. After that, I would repeat the process for every single surface and light.

Potential Problems And Solutions

How would I control the amount of light? I would always do the experiment in a room that always has the same amount of light so the experiment wouldn't be affected by the amount of sunlight in the room.

Safety Or Environmental Concern

I would have to control the amount of light and that the surface gets the same number of light as the next surface.

Experimental Design

Controlled, manipulated experiment

What is your experimental unit?

Two surface colors Two light colors

Number Of Trials:

10

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

2

Number of Observations:

10

When data will be collected

2-16-13 to 2-24-13

Where will data be collected?:

At my house

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
red/blue/clear light bulbs	3	Home	2.98
construction paper	2	Home	0.00
infrared thermometer	1	Mr Biche	0.00

Detailed Procedure

1. I would set up the party lights and let the construction paper rest in the light for about ten minutes.
2. Every minute I would measure the temperature of the paper and record the temperature along with which combination it is until ten minutes have passed.
3. I would repeat the same for every other combination of lights, like light colored light with dark colored papers.
4. I would find the average temperature for each combination of paper and light bulb.
5. Then I would put all the data into my computer.

Diagram

Photo List

Time Line

Procedure timeline photo list complete-2-1-13 Begin experiments no later than-2-4-13 Experiments done-3-1-13 Analysis-3-7-13 Discussion/Background-3-15-13 Wiki complete-3-15-13 Posters complete-3-29-13 KMS Fair-3-29-13

Data Table

Time	Clear light bulb dark paper in degrees Celsius	Clear light bulb light paper in degrees Celsius	Red light bulb dark paper in degrees Celsius	Red light bulb light paper in degrees Celsius	Blue light bulb dark paper in degrees Celsius	Blue light bulb light paper in degrees Celsius
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Average

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Time	Clear light bulb dark paper in degrees Celsius	Clear light bulb light paper in degrees Celsius	Red light bulb dark paper in degrees Celsius	Red light bulb light paper in degrees Celsius	Blue light bulb dark paper in degrees Celsius	Blue light bulb light paper in degrees Celsius
One	22	25	19	19	19	23
Two	24	26	20	20	22	20
Three	26	28	20	22	23	24
Four	28	29	19	23	24	25
Five	29	27	21	23	25	26
Six	31	30	22	23	26	26
Seven	32	30	23	24	27	25
Eight	32	31	22	24	27	27
Nine	31	30	23	23	26	28
Ten	30	30	23	24	26	28
Average	28.5	28.6	21.2	22.5	24.5	25.2

Graphs

Photos

Results

After my experiment, I saw that the lighter colored papers got a higher temperature quicker. The light paper didn't always have the highest measurement at the end, but every single time it got a higher temperature. This is strange since the usual plan is that darker colored objects absorb more heat. Maybe the amount of light or time of day may affect the temperature as well. The dark colored light on light colored paper may have the same affect as light colored light on dark colored paper.

Conclusion

So it turned out that my hypothesis was wrong. When I got my results, most of the tests with light paper actually got the temperature increased quicker at the beginning. They also had a bigger average, too. This is strange because since darker color absorb heat faster, maybe darker light sources have the same affect.

Discussion

This project could be improved by adding whether or not a different amount of light may affect the temperature as well. I could do the same colored light bulb but instead have a higher wattage and see if the temperature is affected at all. Most likely the temperature may be increased since there would be more power in the light bulb. Maybe a high wattage light bulb on darker paper would affect it a lot more than my normal 25 watt light bulb.
I was able to answer the experiment question. The answer was the color of an object and the color of light does affect the temperature of the object. The lighter surfaces got higher temperatures, which was strange since normally that color gets a lower temperature. The dark light bulb on light paper may have the same effect as light light bulbs on dark paper.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

This experiment would explain why some people feel warmer than others when wearing different colored jackets in different weather and different amounts of sunlight. It would be good information for people that make jackets so they would know what color shade to make a jacket for what specific weather the jacket is meant for.

Background Research

Normally, different colors absorb different amounts of heat. Different amounts of light also affect how high the temperature is. Brighter colors reflect off more light from sunlight. Darker colors absorb more heat. The color black is the ultimate color for absorbing light and white is the ultimate color for for reflecting off light.

References

http://www.ehow.com/info_8290750_colors-absorb-heat.html

Abstract

My project was about how I wanted to find out if different colors of light affect the temperature of an object, since I normally know that darker colors absorb more heat. What I did was I let a piece of paper, light blue or black, in one of three colors, red, blue, or clear, for ten minutes. I recorded the data into my computer and also calculated the averages for every single combinations. In the end I found out that the color of light does affect the temperature, and maybe dark light on light paper may have the same affect as light colored light on dark paper.